An inventory of
the collection
at Syracuse University

Community and personal records, biographical materials, and memorabilia pertaining
to the Perfectionist community established by John Humphrey Noyes in Madison County,
New York, its predecessor community in Putney, Vermont, and its branch communities
in Wallingford, Connecticut and Brooklyn, New York, and the successor joint stock
organization, Oneida Community, Ltd.

The Oneida Community was a utopian commune founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848
in the town of Oneida in Madison County, New York. Noyes, born in Vermont in 1811,
attended Dartmouth College, Andover Theological Seminary, and Yale Theological College
and received his license to preach in 1834. He formed his first utopian community
in
1836 in Putney, Vermont, practicing "complex marriage" in which every male was
considered married to every female. In 1847 pending arrests for adultery spurred
Noyes and several other Putney members to move to Oneida, New York, where they
established the Oneida Community.

The Oneida community practiced communal property and possessions and believed
in a form of Perfectionism -- Christ's Second Coming had occurred in the year 70
CE thus making it possible for them to bring about Christ's millennial kingdom and
be free of sin and perfect in this world. (Noyes' declaration in 1834 that he
himself was "Perfected" had resulted in the revocation of his license to preach.)
To help members overcome character defects, all members -- including Noyes himself
-- were subject to formal constructive criticism by committee, or by the community
as a whole, a practice known as "mutual criticism."

As in Putney, the community rejected monogamy and practiced complex marriage. Noyes
believed that sex had social and spiritual elements; members
were expected to improve themselves via sexual relations with those who were their
spiritual superiors. Noyes frequently suggested or encouraged particular pairings,
and beginning in 1869 members who wished to have children could do so only with
the
partner selected for them by a committee based on personal, spiritual, and moral
qualities (such controlled reproduction is known as "stirpiculture").

The community was self-supporting, primarily through the sale of animal traps,
silk thread, and vegetables. (Silverware, for which the
Oneida name would become well-known, was not produced until 1877.) Men and women
were expected to work equally and had equal voice in community governance. At its
height in 1878 the community had 306 members, but the community faltered the next
year when Noyes attempt to pass on leadership of the community to his son, Theodore
Noyes. By 1880 some members had left, many had embarked upon traditional marriages,
and the community itself had been reorganized as a joint-stock company named Oneida
Community Ltd. The animal trap, silk thread, and canned vegetable enterprises
were all abandoned or sold off by 1916 but Oneida Community Ltd. became well-known
for its silver and cutlery, production of which continued until 2005.

The
Oneida Community Collection contains community and personal records,
biographical materials, and memorabilia pertaining to the Perfectionist
community established by John Humphrey Noyes in Madison County, New York,
its predecessor community in Putney, Vermont, and its branch communities in
Wallingford, Connecticut and Brooklyn, New York, and the successor joint
stock organization, Oneida Community, Ltd.

Of particular significance are
the materials of William Alfred Hinds. William A. Hinds was a lifelong disciple
of John Humphrey Noyes and lived for more than sixty years in the Oneida Community,
and among the papers in this collection are Hinds' original research files for the
revised editions of his
American communities
(Oneida, N.Y.: Office of the American Socialist, 1878). These files include his
correspondence with individuals and communities, together with those documents which
he received in connection with his questionnaire. This collection is an important
and largely untapped resource available to those interested in the history of nineteenth-century
communistic societies in America.

Architectural plans and renderings contains blueprints and pen-and-ink sketches of the Mansion House and Children's
House.

Archives (George Wallingford Noyes) consists of photocopies of typed transcriptions of original documents, letters and
other manuscripts relating to the Noyes family and the Oneida Community (1811-1880)
compiled by George Wallingford Noyes. Original transcriptions in the possession of
Mrs. Imogen Noyes Stone, Kenwood, New York.

Biographical material includes family registers, census schedules, membership lists, birth and death records,
and other genealogical material.

Community records comprises more than twenty boxes of agreements, scrapbooks, indexes, inventories,
sales books, record books, meeting minutes, requests for appropriations, and other
community records. Included here are instances of "mutual criticism" for a number
of members as well as a small number of photographs.

Manuscripts and personal papers contains nearly forty boxes of correspondence (also included are writings and other
material for some individuals). Here also are located the papers (both correspondence
and research) of Oneida resident and Utopian community scholar William Alfred Hinds
(see above). More than 15 members of the Noyes family -- including George Wallingford
Noyes, George Washington Noyes, Harriet Holton Noyes, John
Humphrey Noyes, Pierrepont Noyes, and Theodore Richards Noyes -- are represented.

Architectural plans and renderings are arranged chronologically. George Wallingford
Noyes' archives are arranged chronologically. Biographical material is in no particular
order. The Community records series is roughly but not consistently ordered with
general material first, followed by socio-cultural material (dress, education, music,
etc), business material (sales books, inventories, etc), and photographs; within these
general topics material is roughly but not entirely chronological. Manuscripts and
personal papers are arranged alphabetically by name of originator (sender, writer,
or author). Newspapers are arranged alphabetically by name of the paper. Maps are
arranged chronologically. Realis is in no particular order.

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require
advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance
concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Additional access restrictions on this material lifted as of January, 2007.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and
all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from
any
materials in this collection.

Some items from the collection have been scanned and are accessible through SCRC Online, our digital portal. Portions of the collection are also available on microfilm
(see Microfilm 1951).

See also the
P. Geoffrey Noyes Papers. Selected books about the Oneida Community, and photographs of the Community buildings,
members, and groups, have been scanned and are accessible in digital format
via SCRC Online, our digital portal. The library also has numerous pamphlets, books, and other published
material on the Oneida Community in its Rare Books holdings and in the general circulating
collection; please refer to the Classic Catalog
for a complete listing.

1878 Mr 23 to John Humphrey Noyes
Mr 26 to John Humphrey Noyes
Mr 30 to John Humphrey Noyes
Ap 2 to John Humphrey Noyes
Ap 2 to John Humphrey Noyes
Ap 9 to John Humphrey Noyes
Ap 11 to John Humphrey Noyes
Ap 18 to John Humphrey Noyes
Jl 1 to John Humphrey Noyes
1879 My 6 to John Humphrey Noyes
My 12 to John Humphrey Noyes
My 21 to John Humphrey Noyes
My 21 to John Humphrey Noyes
My 25 telegram to Oneida Community

1880 5 21 to James B. Herrick
O 16 to James B. Herrick
O 17 to James B. Herrick
O 20 to James B. Herrick
O 21 to James B. Herrick
O 30 to James B. Herrick
N 20 to James B. Herrick
N 30 to James B. Herrick
D 9 to James B. Herrick
1881 F 10 to James B. Herrick

List of J.B. Herrick's books brought in May 1868
Healing miracles of Christ with Development of healing power in the Community
Domestic accommodations
How the offensive letter to Tirzah came to be written
Frank story about Geo. E.
Observations of J.B.H.
Book review: H. Pyle's
Rejected of men (1904)
Pentacost on love (N 13, 1884)
Memo on Shakers (undated)
Undated fragments
1880-82 miscellaneous letters in J. H. Noyes's
Niagara Copybook (Box 67)

"An episode"
"Perfectionists"
"Trip to East Aurora" and "Autobiographical sketch"
Autobiographic sketch (1845-1904)"
Untitled play (mss.)"
"True account of the formation of the great breathing trust and why it changed its
name"
"Why Tom Jackson never married"
"The wings of riches"
"In Worcestershire" (corrected typescript)
"Strike of a sex" Dramatic version by Edward W. Bryant
The verses of a Community with notes" (1889)
"Religion of Community""
"Story of early O.C. life""
"Daily life in the Community"

"Divinity of the will"
"Dorothy Draggletail"
"From Headquarters No. 1"
Niagara Falls writings:
J.H. Noyes to Mr. Porter "A study of the whirlpool"
"Paying prospects of the new boat"
"What reasons have we for believing that Niagara Falls will be a great city"
"On possession of this house"
"Sayings of J.H.N."
"Pauls gospel" ["Boccaccio"]
["Mr. Noyes's talk"]
"Steps of the ladder"
"The way to take criticism" Miscellaneous fragments

Writings (oversize)

Oversize 7

"The common chord of first, third, fifth and octave justified by the law of vibrations,
and shown to be the rational origin of the common scale" undated

Oversize 2

"Prolongation of life: recovery of youth" and "Self-help and self-protection" undated

"The Oneida Community: as it is now, and how it became so" Letter to the Editor, The
Health Monthly (July, 1886) p. 10-
"Koinonia: the socialism of Jesus" (18 p.)
"The Parousia" (1910) (271 p. typescript)
Niagara Falls "Review" Extra (N 4, 1887)